week 2 Flashcards
what is a cal
a unit that describes the abilty to heat 1g of water by 1C
what is a joule
a uni of E that can produce 1 watt of power fro 1 second
what are the forms of energy
radiant
insolation
kinetic
potential
what is radiant E
energy from the sun that is stored in chemical bonds that is stored as chemical energy or mechanical energy
what is Insolation
incoming solar radiation
the rate of insulation experiences by the earth varies from region to region. The amount depends on:
-geog location - may cause solar to be stretched out over a larger SA
-season
-landscape
-weather
note that 2/3 of solar radion: 0.023% is used for phosyn
how is radiant heat distributed?
1/3 is reflected back into space
42% heats earths surface
23% causes evpa of oceans
and >1% is used for phsyn
what is chmical energy
radient E that is stored in chemical bonds for later sue
what is mechanical energy
the sum of kinetic and potential E
what si kinetic E
E that is derived from object motion
what is potential energy
the E that is stored at a particular position along a moving path
what are the laws of thermodynamics
1) E cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred form one from the anther
@) the entropy of the universe is always increasing (for spontaneous rxn)
what was the main result of the industrial revolution? how this impact society
cause a dramatic societal shift that was once agriculture-based to economy based. the industry rev increased the extraction and production of materials and fossil fuels by a lot
what is a renewable resource
the ability fo an energy source to be replenished on a human time scale (considered to be rapid)
what is a nonrenewable resource
an energy source that cannot be replenished on a human time scale -> takes thousands of years. though these sources tend to be every energy dense
what si phosyn
the process that plants convert radiant energy and CO2 and H2O to make glucose
this uses green pigments call chlorophyll (organelle chloroplast contains chlorophyll)
produces billions of tons of biomass (living matter)
autotrophs
generate their own food via energy capture (producers)
chemotrophs
autotrophs
heterotrophs
org that obtain E by feeding on other orgs
how is energy passed through each trophic level
through the composition of E by one org to another. note that E is always lost as E move up the chain due to metabolism
grazing food chain vs detritus food chain
grazing is the typical transfer of primar>secodnary>tertary>quaternary…
detritus is the consumption fo dead organic material by decomposers (bacteria or fungi)
how can an ecosystem be more resilient to stress
by having a greater diversity of spices in it
GPP
gross primary productivity
the overall rate of biomass production
NPP
net primary productivity
the GPP minus cell resp (this is the energy that will be lost during metabolism and locomotion of animal)
what ecosystems have the greatest productivity? the lowest?
estuaries (freshwater meats ocean)
swamp/marsh
tropical rain forest
open ocean
desert scrub (desert with plant communities)
extreme desert
what is the order of organization in an ecosystem
org>pop>commuinty>ecosys>ecozone>biomes
was is a pop
a group of indiv of the same species
what is a community
many pop ina given area
what is an ecosys
collection of communities that interact with their physical environ
what is an ecozone
the grouping of similar ecosystems (vegetation and communities)
what is a biome
the grouping of ecozones based on the dominating life forms and adaptations or organisms in the environ
Ex. grassland, freshwater, marine, desert…
what is soil
the mixture of inorganic and orgainic matter with air and water
what are the nutrients for soil fertility?
P, N, K
what makes up a soil profile. what are they
soil horizons
(O) humus
(A) topsoil- had decomposed dead matter and minerals
(E) eluviated (not always present)
(B) subsoil- may be bleached
(C) transitional
(D)parent
limiting factor principle
abiotic factors determine whether an org can survive in a given area or not
in order to survive, the require abiotic factors must meet a minimum thresh hold
what is a niche
the role an org plays in a community relative to the envrion conditions for the species to survive
-note that a niche is specific to a species, not 2 species can occupy the same niche
fundamental vs realized niche
fundamental is where the species can be found. realized is where the spices is actually found
intra vs inter specific competition
intra is within the same population while inter is between populations. this may limit species to a particular area
predation
when the predator benifits from the prey
parasitism
when the parasite harms the host to obtain nutrients
mutualism
when both species benefit
commensalism
when the relationship where one org benefits but the other goes without benefit or harm
what is a keystone species
a species with a strong influence on a whole community or ecosystem
maybe predators, ecosys engineers or a mutalist
what is an ecosys engineer
create, change or destroy habitats (Beavers)
what is biodiversity
the variety of life forms in a habitat or ecosys
there are three lvls
1)genetic
2)species
3)ecosys
genetic biodiversity
the diversification of genetics (polymorphisms) within a population. this allow for increased resiliency and promotes adaptation
what is species biodiversity
of different species living with a given ecosystem
ecosystem biodiversity
the # of ecosystems in a given area
at is a biodiversity hot spot, what are the qualifications
areas with high numbers of endemic species
must contain:
1)min of 1500 vascular plans found no where else in the world
2)have lost at least 70% of its primary native vegetation
what is the optimum range
a range of ideal conditions that allow for a species to exist in a given area
Anything by one this range means that the environmental is intolerable for that spices
